REPORT: A Second Letter Sent To The US Senate Tests Positive For Poison

A second letter sent to the U.S. Senate has tested positive for the poison ricin, according to Terry Moran of ABC News.

Last night Poltiico reported that an envelope sent to an office of Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) tested positive for the deadly poison.

Ricin is a poison naturally found in castor beans that prevents the aperson’s cells from making any proteins. It can come in the forms of a powder, a mist, or a pellet, or it can be dissolved in water or weak acid.

As little as 500 micrograms — smaller than a grain of sand— can kill an adult.

Mail to the Senate has been halted as of yesterday. Last night Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) told CNN that police have already identified a suspect who sends a lot of letters to lawmakers.
In 2004 three Senate offices were shut down becasue of a ricin scare. Postal workers began sorting through mail at an off-site facility after anthrax attacks in 2001 targeted lawmakers including then-Majority Leader Tom Daschle and Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy.